A GST tax invoice is not just a bill. Your customer uses it to claim input tax credit, and a missing detail can hold up their claim — and your payment. Rule 46 of the CGST Rules lists what a tax invoice must contain. In simple words:
About you, the supplier
- Your name, address and GSTIN.
About the invoice
- An invoice number — consecutive, not more than 16 characters, and unique for the financial year (April to March). Letters, numbers, “-” and “/” are allowed.
- The date of issue.
About the customer
- Name, address and GSTIN if they are registered.
- For an unregistered customer and a taxable value of ₹ 50,000 or more, their name, address and delivery address with the state name and state code.
About the goods or services
- Description, HSN code (goods) or SAC (services), quantity and unit.
- Total value, any discount, and the taxable value.
About the tax
- The rate and amount of tax, shown separately: CGST + SGST (or UTGST) for a sale inside your state, IGST for a sale to another state.
- Place of supply with the state name, for inter-state supplies.
- Whether tax is payable on reverse charge.
- Your signature or digital signature (or that of an authorised person).
Two things that are not required but help you get paid
- Amount in words, Indian style — “Rupees Forty-Eight Thousand Two Hundred Sixty Only”. It avoids confusion between lakh and million.
- Bank details and a UPI QR code on the PDF, so the customer can pay the moment they open it.
A quick sample (intra-state, Tamil Nadu)
| Taxable value | ₹ 40,898.00 |
| CGST 9% | ₹ 3,680.82 |
| SGST 9% | ₹ 3,680.82 |
| Round off | ₹ 0.36 |
| Invoice total | ₹ 48,260.00 |
This is a simple summary for business owners, not legal advice. Rules change — check the current rules with your CA.
Want to try it? Our free GST invoice maker runs fully in your browser and downloads a PDF.